Why Do Comedians Love The New York Mets?

A broken clock is right twice a day. And so, the New York Mets have advanced to Major League Baseball's playoffs.

But diehard fans are well aware that runs of stunning success are not the norm for the Metropolitans, who have earned just their second NL East division title since 2000. Particularly when the New York Yankees are sitting on a pile of championships in the Bronx, fans who choose to hitch their cart to the Mets are often courting misery and heartbreak.

"The essence of comedy is failure and things not working out and the guy slipping on a banana peel. That's the Mets," says Michael Price, a writer and co-executive producer of "The Simpsons," to the WSJ. "I can't imagine somebody who has a sense of humor being a Yankee fan."

And so, the Mets have attracted a fanclub of wiseacres. Jerry Seinfeld is a common sight at Mets games and even pitches in on some TV broadcasts to offer some thoughts and humble fan observations.

Chris Rock and Kevin James are both Mets fans, too. And Jon Stewart? He turned his Mets fanship into a running gag during 17 years on "The Daily Show."

Hell, Bill Maher is a minority owner of the Mets.

Comedian and actor Hank Azaria noted an important ingredient for comedy: Suffering in the form of pain or discomfort.

If you root for the Mets, suffering comes to you like an IV drip.

"Being a Mets fan goes right in line with that," Azaria said, a longtime Mets fan who has provided voices for "The Simpsons" since 1989. "It's forever the underdog and forever the outsider, and I think every comedian at their core felt that way when they were a kid."

In fact, there's humor to be found in rooting for a perennial loser. But the circumstances are different this year, with the Mets storming the NL East division on the strength of an impressive second half to the season.

What's a Seinfeld or a Stewart to do now? Laugh, smile, enjoy the ride. And brace for a quick postseason exit.